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Pebble Beach Systems Partners With Ross Video

GBR: Pebble Beach Systems has partnered with Ross Video to offer the Ross XPression render engine as a graphics plug-in available within Pebble's channel playout products.

The XPression plugin, running onboard Pebble Beach System's Dolphin and Orca integrated playout systems, will be demonstrated for the first time on NAB.

Offering real-time 3D graphic playout to air, the XPression real-time motion graphics render engine enables Ross users to continue to use Ross creative software tools and current workflows with playout hosted on Pebble's Dolphin or Orca software-defined channels. Pre-existing graphics and workflows are all supported and can simply be migrated across.

As the market continues to move towards purely software-based playout, it also relies on the expertise of specialist companies in specific areas of the playout ecosystem. A key requirement for many broadcasters is ability to present high-quality, 3D capable graphics which highlights the importance of channel branding.

"We've been approached by several North American broadcasters who, having seen our integrations with other vendors, asked whether it might be possible for us to do something with Ross Video," said Tom Gittins, CEO of Pebble Beach Systems. "This new plug-in partnership with Ross supports our strategy of offering best-of-breed technologies within a pure software environment."

By deploying technology as a software plug-in it is no longer necessary to pass video signals between disparate devices, which in the IP world could mean high bandwidth encapsulations such as SMPTE 2022-6. This not only simplifies the playout chain, but also greatly reduces network bandwidth within private or public clouds since the interconnect to and from the third party system has been eliminated. Pebble Beach Systems' Orca is an example of a virtualized playout system in use today able to take immediate advantage of the XPression plugin for real-time 3D graphics.

"The importance of channel branding and graphics in general cannot be understated," said Patrick Twomey, Director of XPression Product Management, "as broadcasters seek to integrate graphics workflows into pure software and virtualised environments, our integration of XPression with Pebble gives our customers a no-compromise, future-ready solution."